A Vermont sheriff says he wants to build a $23 million detention center at an 11.5-acre site, about 10 minutes north of the previously proposed Bellows Falls site.
Windham County Sheriff Keith Clark filed a zoning permit application on Thursday for an empty Rockingham site.
Plans call for building a 60,000 square-foot facility to hold federal and state detainees awaiting trial, as well as prisoners about to leave the criminal justice system.
Rockingham voters in a non-binding vote previously rejected the idea of building a detention center in Bellows Falls. That vote would now move to an Australian vote. The town's zoning board must also sign off.
Clark tells the Brattleboro Reformer that he plans to close the purchase next month. The sheriff's office would own and operate the facility.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.